Last Sunday was pretty balmy for November and so the girls and I drove into the city for a visit to the National Gallery. I have mixed feelings about art museums. Most of the works made to be viewed on their own. A museum setting is not the "natural habitat" for a painting or sculpture. In a museum each work is surrounded by hundreds of others and the effect can be a little overwhelming. Still, it's a pretty great resource for an artist to be able to sit in front of a master's work, learn from it, and then walk five feet and be in front of another masterpiece.
Here are a couple brief sketches I was able to do, during an interlude when Anna was out riding the Merry Go Round with the girls:
(from a Tintoretto painting)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRlE5S7Z1p4eMVQN06a5oWK-vBPAwGV-skqhNK9h0dIzADpJVxjSq3ReKuPTXT5vMFn3NAmKvgF87dZPicTzwGTfpxC3YwZvadwq3UyX33shrjiZ0_5Es0Fg74ohoQ4lDdh7NJplvsfJ8/s400/nat_gallery3_web.jpg)
(sketch of a woman waiting for the evening concert)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOhlCUljDun-27JBtCiuvKvqDwCzwJcU9p2qSL6Dqeci-85YSSpZ0uRmrFDKepO6uy3w1aafxO2IyljU14RY7tDLrta80zie_xSb6kP_ubnxmE1S7639RXDBvDV56O4nUt2V0DwSBPKc/s400/nat_gallery4_web.jpg)
Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy of Waiting for Toast! I'm working on the extra art and will start sending the books soon. There are still plenty of copies available!